Death Row Records

Death Row Records
File:Deathrowlogobig.jpg
Founded	1991
Founder	Dr. Dre Suge Knight
Distributor(s)	Koch Records, Interscope Records
Genre	Hip Hop
Country of origin	US
Location	Los Angeles, California
Official website	www.DeathRow.la

Death Row Records is a record label that was founded in 1991 by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, and was once home to some of rap's biggest names, including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound (Kurupt and Daz Dillinger).

Death Row has sold nearly 50 million units worldwide, and generated close to $750 million in revenue. The label was also once home to RBX, The Lady of Rage, Michel'le, Danny Boy, DJ Quik, J-Flexx, Sam Sneed, Mark Morrison, MC Hammer, Tha Realest, Crooked I, O.F.T.B., Eastwood, and Gina Longo (notable for being the only white artist signed to the label). In addition, the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC was signed on and working on an album when she died in an automobile accident. On February 5, 2008, Warner Music offered $25 million for the assets of Death Row Records.

Early Success

While Dr. Dre was trying to leave Ruthless Records, he was introduced to Suge Knight, who was a bodyguard for The D.O.C. at the time. With Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, The D.O.C., and John Payne set out to found their own label which they called Future Shock Records and then later renamed it to Death Row Records. Funding Death Row was accomplished via financial support from Interscope Records, which in exchange would distribute its records. The label's first release was The Chronic, the solo debut from Dr. Dre, in December 1992. Featured on the album were newcomers: Daz, Kurupt, The Lady of Rage, RBX and, most notably, Dr. Dre's new protege Snoop Dogg (then known as Snoop 'Doggy' Dogg). The album quickly exploded into 1993, eventually topping the Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart; selling over three million copies. Later that year, Death Row released Doggystyle, the debut album from Snoop Dogg. Debuting at number one, it wound up beating The Chronic in sales, and made Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records hip-hop's leading act by 1994. Also in 1994, Death Row released the multi-platinum soundtracks to Above the Rim and Snoop Dogg's Murder Was the Case.

With acclaim came criticism. While riding high on the commercial success of Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg, Death Row was blasted by several activist groups and public figures in the media for its glorification of the violence associated with the gangsta rap image that most of its artists promoted. The media criticism, meanwhile, grew louder by the summer of 1995, as dissenters zeroed in on Death Row's highly publicized forthcoming release, Dogg Food—the debut release by Tha Dogg Pound. The flak made the shareholders in Interscope Records' parent company, Time Warner, nervous—so much so that the company sold all of its shares in Interscope to MCA Music Entertainment. Dogg Food, meanwhile, was postponed from its intended July release date to October.

Addition of 2Pac

As the controversy with boycotters and Time Warner was adding fuel to Death Row's engine; Suge Knight, in the meantime, posted bail for the then-incarcerated Tupac ("2Pac") Shakur in exchange for his signing with Death Row. At the time, Tupac and Death Row shared mutual disdain for the fledgling New York-based Bad Boy Records, along with its CEO Sean Combs and seminal star The Notorious B.I.G.

Upon Shakur's release from jail, he immediately went to work on his Death Row debut album, All Eyez on Me. The album, released in early 1996, topped the albums charts and going diamond ( 10x platinum) became the label's biggest commercial success to date. The escalating tension between Tupac and Biggie (as well as Death Row and Bad Boy), meanwhile, fueled what was eventually called the "East Coast/West Coast rap war." What was to follow would be a year-long dispute in which several Death Row artists fired verbal assaults at East Coast artists. Among those who took lyrical shots were: Snoop Dogg, The Dogg Pound, and Tupac (with his group, Outlawz). The list of those dissed by Death Row included most famously (but is not limited to): Mobb Deep, Nas, Jay-Z, the Junior M.A.F.I.A., Puff Daddy and the Notorious B.I.G.

Death Row artists who acknowledged Bad Boy Records, or those who didn't support the feud, were looked down upon by Tupac. Lady of Rage commented in an interview that Tupac had once called her the "weakest link in Death Row" because she wouldn't insult Bad Boy. Tupac also spoke ill of Dr. Dre for having not testified for Snoop during his murder trial, discouraging the West Coast-East Coast tension, and for his having departed the label in early 1996. Tupac dissed Dr. Dre on KMEL radio in the Bay Area for not running the streets representing with him and the label and being too slow on producing beats for his album. Snoop Dogg eventually would fall out with Tupac shortly before his death because of an interview in which Snoop claims to like and respect B.I.G.'s music.

Despite the infamous feud, Suge Knight had planned to open a New York chapter of the label to be called Death Row East, even signing K-Solo, the only rapper that signed before the label disappeared. Eric B. was slated to head that label. In an interview, 2Pac named rappers they planned to sign, from Big Daddy Kane to the Wu-Tang Clan. The branch, however, was never formed.

Tupac was shot and killed in Las Vegas in September 1996, while riding on the passenger side in a car driven by Suge Knight. Soon after, Knight was sentenced to nine years in prison for a parole violation relating directly to a fight that both he and Tupac were involved in on the night of his death. As a result of Dr. Dre's having previously left the company, Tupac's death, and Suge Knight's incarceration; Death Row Records imploded almost instantly.

Second generation struggles

In August 1997, Interscope Records sold its interest in Death Row Records and severed ties with the company. This forced the label to take up distribution with Priority Records. By 1998, Snoop Dogg, RBX, Jewell, and Kurupt had all left the label. Nate Dogg, The Lady of Rage, and Daz Dillinger(although he was still signed as a member of the dogg pound) soon followed. Death Row's saving grace was, and remains to be, the fact that they maintain ownership of the original master recordings its former artists produced while they were still under contract. These recordings continue to provide the label with the majority of its revenue.

Warren G, Dr. Dre's step-brother, left the label without releasing an album — claiming that he had been assaulted by Suge Knight. The book "Have Gun will Travel" by Ronin Ro later claimed that he and his friends were publicly beaten at a boat party, and also details accusations of violence against Sam Sneed. Some employees were allegedly beaten and forced to strip after making a telephone call without permission. On his VH1 Behind the Music profile, Dr. Dre noted that the single incident that made him decide to leave the label for good was when he witnessed a studio engineer being assaulted, simply for rewinding a tape back too far.

In 1998, Suge planned to launch the many rappers to come for the second generation of Death Row Records. Although he was incarcerated, he pushed rapper Top Dogg (also known as YGD) as his first new face making his television debut appearance in the video "All About U" on the 2Pac "Greatest Hits" album replacing Snoop Dogg. Top Dogg had generated a buzz from a hidden track on the Gang Related soundtrack titled "Goin Back To Cali" aimed toward Puff Daddy. The video, "All About U," received heavy play and Suge followed in 1999 with "The Chronic 2000: Suge Knight Represents" album to introduce a brand new roster headed by Daz Dillinger, Soopafly, Tha Dogg Pound, Top Dogg, Tha Realest, Swoop G, Lil Cstyle, Doobie K, Milkbone, Michelle, VK, and Mac Shawn.

In 2000, the video for Top Dogg's "Cindafella" track received minor airplay with an innovative concept produced by TC as many earlier videos and directed by K.C. Amos, and his album "Every Dog Has His Day" was shelved as his contract expired and he was not renewed. Soopafly shortly lived as the label's lead artist after failure to generate anytype of buzz off his single "Like It Or Not," was released due to disputes over payments from the label. Tha Realest tookover as Tha Row's lead artist and made several albums which were never released, including the much anticipated "Witness Tha Realest" that featured a diss track towards Mobb Deep. He recorded tracks with Daz Dillinger, Scarface, Richie Rich, and other big westcoast names along with labelmates J Valentine, PB, and his group The Last Circle. After "Too Gangsta For Radio," Tha Realest was kicked off of Death Row because fans were complaining about him for many reasons. They didnt like the fact that he sounded exactly like 2pac, that he tried to give an interview exactly like 2pac, that he was spreading around rumors on the official Death Row website that 2pac and Suge Knight discovered him in las Vegas and they both signed him rumors and fans were also complaining about the similiarites between Tha Realest's tattoos and 2pac's. Suge Knight wanted to make his label legitimate so he decided to sign Crooked I. Daz Dillinger left the label as head-producer later that year due to money problems with Suge Knight and he used his Death Row tracks to release an independent album titled "R.A.W." His lead single for the Too Gangsta For Radio compilation titled "Gangsta Rap" was pulled and he was replaced with Scarface & Treach of Naughty By Nature. This track would later appear as the lead single for Knight's Tha Dogg Pound "2002" release. Big Hutch aka Cold187um from Above The Law became the label's lead producer. In September of 2001, with Knight being out of prison, Crooked I's debut "Say Hi To Tha Bad Guy" was supposed to be released with the lead single being "So Damn Hood featuring Sisqo" and rumored guest appearances by Ja Rule, Ashanti, Jadakiss, Kurupt, Scarface, Trick Daddy, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez, Danny Boy, Jayo Felony, Juvenile, Too Short, Yukmouth, D.J. Quik, Jay-Z E-40 and others marking the big return of the label. The album was never released and it became apparent Death Row Records had major marketing problems. Big Hutch parted the label and Darren Vegas became the new head of productions.

In 2001, Several out-of-print releases from Tha Row were re-released, such as: Snoop Dogg's Tha Doggfather and 2Pac's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. However, Tha Row's attempt at a comeback lagged, as their new releases were all compilations. With the exception of previously unreleased material by 2Pac, the label failed to release any solo records by any of its current roster. On the 2001 Too Gangsta For Radio compilation, several skits were aimed at Tha Row's many adversaries. The introduction had a Snoop impersonator waking up from a nightmare and making his wife phone the prison in which Suge Knight was serving time to verify that he was still behind bars. On the track "Fuck Dre", Tha Realest, TWIST 2 DVS(J. Gallardo) and Lil' C-Style (formerly of the LBC Crew) recorded a skit where Dr. Dre rapes a potential signee, and on K-9's "Gangsta'd Out", a skit portrayed Eminem as a tool of the Ku Klux Klan. Upon release from prison in 2001, Knight renamed the label "Tha Row Records" and revealed a new roster headed by gifted Long Beach rapper, Crooked I. Tha Row also signed Left Eye of TLC, under the name N.I.N.A., meaning New Identity Non-Applicable. Left-Eye, however, was later killed in a car accident before anything could come of the deal.

By 2002, Knight's fanbase became frustrated with a lack of new albums from active artists. Although Kurupt of Tha Dogg Pound had returned to be President of the label, the release of Tha Dogg Pound's 2002, Tupac Shakur's Until The End Of Time, and Snoop Dogg's Death Row: Snoop Doggy Dogg at His Best escalated the frustration of loyal fans that wanted to see the new roster. Although he had a great relationship with Suge Knight, it was apparent that Kurupt had very little power when it came to major label decisions, album releases, and recruiting power as the President and that the significant decisions ran through Knight.

By 2003, Kurupt was the label's new lead artist as Crooked I fought legal battles with Knight to escape his contract. He recorded with his brother Roscoe, MOP, Eastwood, and Tri-Star. By 2005, multi-platinum rapper Petey Pablo had signed on to become Death Row's new lead artist. Kurupt and Eastwood (Who is now a former artist) were the only ones left of the second generation of Tha Row artists because most had departed from the label. Kurupt's album "Against The Grain" dropped and Death Row claimed that distributor Koch dropped the album before it was finished and left off important tracks Kurupt recorded with Lil Jon and Ice Cube. Songs such as Vaseline 2 were dropped from the album. The album did poorly for sales and reminded everyone of the problems the label was having. As well as the poor sales Death Row did not endorse the album because of Koch's "mistake".

At 2:30 am on May 27, 2003, several bullets were fired by an unknown person, or persons, at Death Row Records Beverly Hills headquarters; damaging the front door, windows and wall of the offices. Earlier that year, a Los Angeles S.W.A.T. team raided the Death Row offices, looking for evidence of gang murders and drug dealing. At some point, rumors circulated that rapper The Game was in talks with Suge Knight about signing with Tha Row. Supposedly, The Game was simultaneously considering a deal with rival Bad Boy Records. Regardless of the authenticity of these talks, they yielded nothing and The Game is currently under his own label named The Black Wall Street Records.

The year 2004 proved unfortunate for Suge. Crooked I, Tha Row's most promising artist, became frustrated that his album had failed to reach shelves after a period of five years and departed the label when his contract expired. Crooked I is now under his own label called Dynasty Entertainment. Similarly, R&B artist Danny Boy too left the label after a lengthy postponement, but as of now this is yet to be announced. Rapper Kurupt left in 2005 to reunite group Tha Dogg Pound with former partner Daz Dillinger. In the same year, Tha Row signed rapper Petey Pablo. Additionally, it is rumored that the company attempted to sign incarcerated rapper Shyne, but that didn't work out. The second generation did not fail due to lack of talent, but rather, a lack of exposure. With poor promotion and missed album releases, several quality records were shelved that may have generated heavy sales. The label failed to release completed albums by Top Dogg, Soopafly, Tha Realest, Daz Dillinger (second album), Above The Law, Ray J, N.I.N.A., J. Valentine, Eastwood, Danny Boy, Crooked I, Dre'sta, Mac Shawn, and several others. Later that year Kurupt and Eastwood both left the label. The only remaining artist would be Petey Pablo until 2006.

Current Company Status

In early 2006 Suge Knight went on the DJ Kay Slay Hot 97 Radio Show and announced Death Row East and its first artist Lakey the Kid. Lakey had appeared on albums with Nas previously. Tha Row East has plans for one album. This album is Lakey's solo album called "The Big Ride" which, according to Tha Row East Vice President Delson, will be coming out sometime in 2007. Another artist named Warlord later signed to Death Row West. His mixtape "I Can Getcha Block Knocked Off Volume 1" aided by DJ Fokis aka "Bull Of Tha Industry" out of Chicago was released September 26, 2006. Warlord recently started working on "Still Can Get Cha Block Knocked off Volume 2". The mixtape is in its final stages and will soon be available worldwide on Apple’s iTunes. Apparently the mixtape is executive produced by Suge Knight and Big L.O.S. (Death Row's Former V.P.). There is a video being shot for this called Boss, which will be the main focus of the tape. It has also been reported that Suge Knight is doing a reality show pilot for a major cable channel. Recently Big L.O.S. left from Death Row Records & formed his own company. Petey Pablo was stated to have left from Death Row Records near the end of 2006. Petey Pablo plans on releasing a mixtape around the same time his new album drops.

On April 3, 2006, it was reported that a court-appointed receiver is set to acquire Death Row assets to auction off. Suge Knight has missed several court-mandated appearances over his assets. Michael Harris, an imprisoned drug dealer, says that Knight owes him money because he helped fund the label's founding. On April 4, 2006, Death Row Records filed for bankruptcy protection. Knight would run the company while the matter is before the courts. It is noted that the headquarters of Death Row in Beverly Hills has been abandoned. A Los Angeles bankruptcy judge has set a deadline for parties to file claims against Death Row Records and Marion "Suge" Knight as part of a Chapter 11 restructuring of the legendary West coast label.

Death Row Records and Knight filed for Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in April 2006, listing debts of $137.4 million and $4.4 million in assets. Those filing claims must file with the bankruptcy court presiding over the case must file by October 31 or risk being barred from asserting claims against Death Row Records or Suge Knight. "We believe that it is vital that all parties asserting claims come forward and assert them in a timely manner so that Death Row can come out of Chapter 11 quickly", said Todd Neilson, the Death Row chapter 11 trustee. In March of 2005, Knight was ordered to pay over $100 million to Lydia Harris, who claims her husband, incarcerated drug kingpin Michael "Harry-O" Harris, provided $1.5 million in start-up money for Death Row in return for a 50% stake in the label. Knight missed several court dates in regards to the Harris' ownership claims, resulting in a default judgment.

He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which allows a company to continue business operations while restructuring. Death Row is currently being operated by Neilson during the bankruptcy proceedings, while Knight oversees his bankruptcy estate as a debtor in possession. Among those listed as unsecured creditors to Death Row include the Harris', the Internal Revenue Service ($6,900,000), Koch Records ($3,400,000), Interscope Records ($2,500,000) and others. With Chapter 11 bankruptcy Suge will not lose his company or any of his masters.

Criminal Allegations

Many people believe that Death Row was responsible for the murder of acclaimed Tupac Shakur because he was leaving the label to form his own label Makaveli Records. "I'll never forget the look in Suge and Reggie's eyes when I saw them at the hospital," Keven Hackie, an FBI agent and bodyguard for Tupac said. "In 17 years of being a cop, I've seen a lot of guilty people and the look Suge had in his face, the look in his eyes when he looked at me, I knew damn well from their looks, those f***ers were guilty. There's no doubt about it."

Reggie Wright Jr., the former Head of Security for Death Row Records, was offered $100,000 USD to take a lie detector test that asks if he had anything to do with the assassination of 2Pac on the documentary Tupac: Assassination. Proclaiming his innocence, he has agreed to take it.

Discography

Year	Artist	Title	Last RIAA Certification	Billboard 200 (Peak)
1992	Dr. Dre	The Chronic	3x Platinum	#3 (02/13/1993)
1993	Snoop Dogg	Doggystyle	4x Platinum	#1 (12/11/1993)
1994	Various Artists	Above the Rim (Original Soundtrack)	2x Platinum	#2 (04/23/1994)
	Various Artists	Murder Was the Case (Original Soundtrack)	2x Platinum	#1 (11/05/1994)
1995	Tha Dogg Pound	Dogg Food	2x Platinum	#1 (11/18/1995)
1996	2Pac	All Eyez on Me	9x Platinum	#1 (03/02/1996)
	2Pac (as Makaveli)	The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory	9x Platinum	#1 (11/23/1996)
	Snoop Dogg	Tha Doggfather	2x Platinum	#1 (11/30/1996)
	Various Artists	Death Row Greatest Hits	Platinum	#35 (12/21/1996)
	Various Artists	Christmas on Death Row	None	#155 (12/28/1996)
	Hammer	Too Tight (Unreleased)	None	None
1997	The Lady of Rage	Necessary Roughness	None	#32 (07/12/1997)
	Various Artists	Gridlock'd (Original Soundtrack)	Gold	#1 (02/15/1997)
	Various Artists	Gang Related soundtrack	2x Platinum	#2 (10/25/1997)
1998	2Pac	Greatest Hits	9x Platinum	#3 (01/23/1999)
	Daz Dillinger	Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back	Gold	#8 (04/18/1998)
	Michel'le	Hung Jury	None	Did Not Chart
1999	Various Artists	Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000	Gold	#11 (05/22/1999)
2000	Snoop Dogg	Dead Man Walkin'	None	#24 (11/18/2000)
	Various artists	Too Gangsta for Radio	None	#171 (10/21/2000)
2001	Snoop Dogg	Death Row: Snoop Doggy Dogg at His Best	None	#28 (11/10/2001)
	Tha Dogg Pound	2002	None	#36 (08/18/2001)
	2Pac	Until the End of Time	5x Platinum	#1 (04/14/2001)
2002	Various Artists	Dysfunktional Family (Original Soundtrack)	None	#95 (05/10/2003)
	2Pac	Better Dayz	3x Platinum	#5 (12/14/2002)
2003	2Pac	Nu-Mixx Klazzics	Gold	#15 (10/25/2003)
2004	2Pac	2Pac Live	None	Did Not Chart
2005	Various Artists	The Very Best of Death Row	None	#94 (05/14/2005)
	Kurupt	Against tha Grain	None	#60 (09/10/2005)
	2Pac	Tupac: Live at the House of Blues	Platinum (DVD)	#159 (10/22/2005)
2006	Dr. Dre	Chronicles: Death Row Classics	None	Did Not Chart
	Various Artists	15 Years on Death Row	None	Did Not Chart
2007	Snoop Dogg	Chronicles	None	Did Not Chart
	Various Artists	Death Row Archives: The Soundtracks	None	Did Not Chart
	Various Artists	Death Row: The Singles Collection	None	Did Not Chart
	2Pac	Nu-Mixx Klazzics Vol. 2	None	#45
	2Pac	Best of 2Pac Part 1: Thug	None	#65
	2Pac	Best of 2Pac Part 2: Life	None	#77
	Various Artists	Death Row Presents: Fellowship of The Great	None	Did Not Chart

Further reading

• Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records, Ronin Ro, Doubleday, 1998, 384 pages.
• Labyrinth: Corruption and Vice in the L.A.P.D.: The truth behind the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls by Randall Sullivan, Atlantic Monthly Press, April 2, 2002, 384 pages, ISBN 0-87113-838-7

Current Death Row Records artists

• Michel'le
• Danny Boy
• Hard Body
• Lakey The Kid
• Warlord
• Top Dogg

External links

• Death Row Records - Official website